Hi! Welcome to Ann Evans' blogspot.

Sunday, 13 December 2015

It's
lovely when you receive a letter from someone who's enjoyed your
book. But a little more unusual when you get a letter from the
characters themselves!

I
was curious when the postman delivered a brown padded envelope, and
even more curious to find a hand written letter on a kind of scroll,
and something wrapped in a piece of black material and tied with a
black ribbon.

A
cursory glance at the letter had me noticing the words Cross of
Aes Dana – which, if you've read my YA time slip book, Celeste
you'll know is a magical pendant that my character Megan (alias
Celeste) had to guard with her life as it possesses the power of
eternal life.

I
instantly thought it was from one of the teenagers that I'd spoken
to at their school recently – until I saw the letter was signed by
Megan, Fraya and Jamie. That trio of names rang a bell – my
characters in the book!

They said they'd retrieved the Cross of Aes Dana for me and wanted to thank me for creating them!

Carefully,
with excitement growing I untied the package. Oh my goodness! I
couldn't believe my eyes. To actually see the
Cross of Aes Dana,
a figment of my imagination (although the tribe did exist a long,
long time ago) but there it was in my hand.

It had the look of age, it had
the gemstones, it had the feel. ..

A
pendant cast in iron and inset with gemstones. It
was

no
bigger than a man's thumb and formed the shape of a
cross.

In
the centre was a garnet, blood red and a powerful
protective force.

Inset
along the four lengths were honey brown amber crystals and

jasper
with layers of red, brown, and white — again for
protection.

At
the four tips of the cross were four small
hematite stones with

their
opaque red sheen that merged against the grey of the iron
in

which
they were set. Truly a fearsomely powerful mix.

I held it tightly, just as Megan had done…

As sleep took over, Megan tried to let her mind drift,
to let

the memories flow back. If she could only make
sense of all this,

she would be glad to remember everything. But
nothing became

any clearer. Eventually as she was drifting halfway
between sleep

and semi‐consciousness the image of a face formed in
her mind — a

woman's face — like before.

She looked about thirty with dark brown plaited
hair. Her

eyes sparkled at first as she mouthed incoherent
words, but then

dimmed, and became wreathed in sadness as she faded away.
Megan

tried to call her back, to ask what she had
said. She

couldn't make out the words. It was so far back... so
long ago.

Tossing and turning, murmuring in her sleep, Megan rolled

over and slept deeply. The face drifted back, closer, as
if she were

leaning over Megan as she slept. And then she pressed
something

into Megan's hand before fading away.

Megan felt the warm angular metal of a cross
against her

skin, and smooth gemstones set within the iron, and the
thin chain

that enabled it to be worn around the neck.

In her sleep Megan's fingers touched the pouch she
wore

around her own throat. It contained a fusion of herbs to
keep away

the plague — at least that's what the elders said, and
who was she

to argue?

Her fingers tightened around the object in her
hand. The

cross was heavy, made of iron — a burden in so many
ways...

She slept on unconsciously checking the cross was still
there

throughout the night, clasping it tightly in her hand.

Only as she started to wake did she feel it
slipping away.

Desperately she tried to hang onto it but as
consciousness took

over, so the cross slipped back into the unreal world of
her dreams.

Her bedside lamp was still on and she uncoiled her
clenched

hand and stared at it, half expecting to see the imprint
of the cross

in her skin.

But there was nothing. Just marks of her
fingernails in her

palms. She felt for the pouch of herbs around
her throat. But of

course they, like the cross were simply the imaginations
of a dream.

Or fragmented memories of a life she had lived
long, long

ago.

I discovered who had taken the trouble to bring my story to life. A
lovely lady called Val Hunt. Val is a fabulous award winning sculptor
who uses recycled materials – particularly drinks can metal, to
create stunning works of art. I've written about Val's work a few
times for magazines, but I never expected this!

Please do take a look at Val's work. She is such a talented lady.
Thank you, Val!

http://www.arthunt.co.uk/

And
if anyone would like to read more of Celeste, it's
available in paperback and as an ebook.